Dallas suburb looking at making backyard chicken coops legal

Jul. 30, 2017

FARMERS BRANCH, Texas (AP) — Farmers Branch officials are considering an ordinance to make a common farm item legal in the northern Dallas suburb's backyards.

City council members and some residents spent Saturday looking at chicken coops.

Farmers Branch Mayor Robert Dye tells Dallas-Fort Worth TV station KXAS he's "excited" about the prospect and went on the inspection tour in Dallas, where owning backyard chickens is legal, to convince some folks who aren't quite as enthusiastic and show that officials are responsibly investigating the idea.

They checked out coops at two homes and another at a school. Critics say the chickens are noisy and smell bad. A Dallas chicken coop owner, Taber Wetz, says his chickens are probably cleaner than the family dogs.